The Power of Peer-to-Peer Recommendations on Reddit

Key takeaways from this guide: 

• People trust people. Consumers are increasingly turning to online communities for authentic perspectives on the products they buy. From discovery to purchase, they trust product recommendations from real people with honest opinion.
• Focused communities have significant influence. Reddit communities are focused on specific topics and cultures. This allows them to have more nuanced and useful conversations around brands and products. Niche communities often have more engagement and influence related to product opinions and purchases.
• Build advocacy by adding value. Building positive brand perception within a community can lead to advocacy and recommendations. Marketers should create campaigns that add value to the openly stated needs of the community. Showing up on Reddit via Promoted Posts, AMAs on specific topics, and MegaPosts help you guide the conversation towards the messages and outcomes your brand needs.
• Conversations about your brand are happening every day on Reddit. There’s never been a better time to start engaging in those conversations and gaining valuable insights about your brand.  

There is so much insight to be garnered from Reddit recommendations. For this guide, we took a deep dive into five popular subreddits to uncover what people are recommending and what marketers can learn from those recommendations.

How to analyze subreddit recommendations like a pro

We chose the following subreddits, representing a broad range of industries:

• r/BuyItForLife (1.5m subscribers)
• r/SkincareAddiction (1.8m subscribers)
• r/Gadgets (21.3m subscribers)
• r/DIY (22.4m subscribers)
• r/GiftIdeas (375k subscribers)

Then we built a query searching for people who were either looking for or sharing recommendations and advice on them between April 1 2022 - April 1 2023. 

Based on our query, covering all five subreddits, we tracked 93k mentions shared between April 1 2022 - April 1 2023, an 11% increase compared to the previous period. We also found that close to 48k unique authors contributed to the conversation, a 15% increase over the same period. 

The increasing volumes of mentions and unique authors are both good indicators that people visit these subreddits to seek and share advice. And the fact that there are fewer unique authors than total mentions shows that people are really engaging in conversations, posting multiple times about the topic at hand.

Measuring engagement: Subscribers vs mentions

We compared online activity relating to sharing and requesting recommendations and advice across all five selected subreddits.

While r/SkinCareAddiction has a comparatively small subscriber base compared to r/DIY and r/Gadgets, it has the highest number of recommendations (bringing in 62.6% of advice-related mentions across all five subreddits). 

Understanding the audience makeup: Generations

We used Brandwatch’s new Ready To Use Social Panels for Reddit to understand the audience makeup of those discussing recommendations in each selected subreddit between April 1 2022 and April 1 2023.

While millennials dominated advice-related conversations in all five subreddits, we were able to uncover some interesting insights when delving into the other generations' differences.

For example, compared to the other subreddits studied:

• r/DIY had the highest percentage of baby boomer recommendations compared to the other four subreddits, accounting for 6.7% of mentions. 
• r/Gadgets had the highest percentage of Gen X mentions across all five subreddits. 
• r/SkinCareAddiction and r/GiftIdeas had strong recommendation engagement from Gen Z and Gen Y.

Lessons for marketers

• Focused communities are influential. Many of the communities that influence people’s purchase decisions are topic-specific. Even smaller, more niche subreddits can be prolific in generating significant recommendations. In many cases, the more focused a community is, the more trusted it is to make recommendations. 
• The power of generation-centric messaging. By understanding the different patterns of engagement across generations, brands can craft messages and engagement strategies that are more likely to resonate with their target audience and drive greater results.

What are people recommending?

In this section, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the five selected subreddits individually to understand how people discuss recommendations. 

Let’s start by analyzing the buy-it-for-life community. 

r/BuyItForLife

A community with over 1.5m subscribers, r/BuyItForLife is defined as a place to find durable, quality, and practical items that are made to last.

Key topics

We used Brandwatch’s topic cloud component to visualize the most popular topics in advice-related discussions in r/BuyItForLife.

We glanced over the topic cloud and immediately spotted BIFL, the acronym frequently used by the buy-it-for-life community.

One of the characteristics of the BIFL community (and many other subreddits) is that the members have developed their own slang. People often use “BIFL” when seeking advice and to emphasize the expected quality.

BIFL is just one subreddit-specific acronym among many. By learning the unique vocabulary used in different communities, brands can gain valuable insights into consumer preferences and expectations for product quality and advice. 

Products and characteristics

Which products and characteristics did consumers discuss the most in advice-related conversations on r/BuyItForLife?

Note: We grouped smaller categories together to better represent the data. 

Across these nine groups of products, the footwear category generated the most advice-related mentions, accumulating 37.2% of the categorized conversation. This category also generated significantly more than the second-most popular category discussed in r/BuyItForLife – clothing (close to 20%).

Meanwhile, price was definitely a major part of the advice-related conversations in r/BuyItForLife between April 1 2022 and April 1 2023. 

Consumers sought advice for products within their budget and compared prices for product alternatives.

Some consumers also provided the math behind the decision to purchase something more expensive, and they talked about the benefits over time of spending more on a product that’ll last.

Lessons for marketers

• Tapping into the buyer’s brain: To serve customers better, brands need to understand consumer motivations and what drives consumer purchasing decisions. In the BIFL subreddit, where quality over time is highly valued, brands looking to join the conversation should keep this in mind.
• Learn from the collective wisdom of the community. Whether in conversations about your brand’s products or a competitor’s, the discussions on Reddit communities are an open invitation into the consumer path to purchase. At what point in their journey are they choosing your product and why? Reddit holds the keys to everything brands need to know to meet their consumer’s needs.

r/SkincareAddiction

A community with over 1.8m subscribers, r/SkincareAddiction is a popular subreddit dedicated to skincare enthusiasts where members discuss various skincare topics, share product recommendations, seek advice, and discuss skincare routines. 

The conversation at a glance

Populating common themes and topics in consumer discussions online is always a great way to start your analysis. We visualized the r/SkincareAddiction advice-related conversation on a topic cloud. 

Straight away, we can see that r/SkincareAddiction subscribers often discussed skin issues, treatments, and doctors in advice-related conversations. We can also see several other related subreddits were frequently mentioned in consumer discussions, including r/DermatologyQuestions and r/AskDocs.

Analyzing trending topics in advice-related conversations revealed that in the last year, consumers turned to this subreddit to do basic research, learn about new products, and discuss skincare routines based on their unique skin conditions and challenges.

Key topics

We looked at the topics consumers discussed the most in r/SkincareAddiction, and how that conversation compared to the previous year. 

All six topics saw a slight growth over April 1 2022 - April 1 2023. Brands should keep an eye on trends like these to help drive their promotion strategies. For example, retinol and cleanser messaging might be worth dialing up in the coming months as consumers show a growing interest.

Brand analysis: Share of conversation per topic

We also looked into brand mentions in conversations between April 1 2022 and April 1 2023.

With 804 and 519 mentions respectively, La Roche Posay and Neutrogena generated the bulk of the brand-related conversation among consumers sharing and giving advice in r/SkincareAddiction. 

How do these two brands stack up against each other?

Overall, La Roche Posay accumulated higher percentages of mentions across all six categories. However, the data suggests that moisturizer and acne generated a slightly higher volume of brand-related conversation for Neutrogena than other attributes on the list.

Lessons for marketers:

• Learn from trends and trending topics over time. Looking into niche subreddits and learning from historical insights can help brands shape their marketing activations. And comparative analysis of different product characteristics and attributes over time will enhance marketers’ understanding of the market and their evolving preferences.
• Communities advocate for the brands they love. Every marketer wants their brand to become a cult sensation. The more consistent, positive experiences a community has with and about a brand, the more likely that brand is to become entrenched as a go-to recommendation for every subscribed member of that culture. Showing up on Reddit via Promoted Posts, AMAs on specific topics, and MegaPosts help you guide the conversation and influence your most engaged customers. 

r/Gadgets

With 21.3m subscribers, r/Gadgets is the second-largest community on our list and one of the most popular subreddits for discussing and reviewing gadgets. 

What did consumers recommend or seek advice on?

We segmented the advice-based conversation in r/Gadgets by nine popular product categories and, as you can see, phones were leading the pack with close to 34% of the conversation. 

PCs and laptops followed with close to 21% of the conversation, and games and gaming consoles gathered 19% of mentions.

r/Gadgets: Most talked-about attributes

When looking at discussions in r/Gadgets, several product attributes and features stood out. Which attributes had the most impact in advice-driven conversations in r/Gadgets? 

• Looking at the volume of conversation across all nine categories, price was the most discussed attribute in advice-related discussions in r/Gadgets, accounting for 46% of the advice conversation.
• Battery life secured the second spot for the most mentioned attribute in r/Gadgets conversations. According to our sentiment analysis, this category also saw one of the highest volumes of negative mentions compared to the others.

Lessons for marketers

• People come to communities with intention. When a consumer comes to a community like r/Gadgets, they’re often looking for the information they need to make a purchase. This is a perfect opportunity to meet these intentional customers with clear points outlining how your brand matches their needs. Reddit Ads products like the MegaPost are designed to provide in-depth information while achieving wide reach. And Reddit’s newly launched Product Ads allow you to tailor the right product in your catalog for the right audience. 
• Use consumer behavior online as a barometer for demand forecasting. Audience and sentiment analyses can help marketers and insights professionals gain an overview of wider public opinion which will influence consumer purchasing behavior. 

r/DIY 

r/DIY is the largest community on our list with 22.4m subscribers. This subreddit is a space for people to learn and share their firsthand experiences with DIY.

r/DIY: The emotional conversation

Examining emotions gives marketers additional context to the discussions surrounding the topic of their analysis. 

We used Brandwatch’s GPT-powered assistant Iris to better understand the emotions expressed in discussions in r/DIY between September 1 2022 and April 1 2023. 

We looked into mentions classified within one of the six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, joy, surprise, and sadness.

Here’s what we found:

• Overall, all six emotions saw an increase in conversation in last six-month period studied compared to the previous six-month period. This and the growing volume of mentions and unique authors may indicate that more consumers are getting into DIY and engaging in advice-related conversations.
• Interestingly, joy and anger had the highest volume of emotion-categorized mentions. It seems that redditors fluctuate around these two emotions when tackling DIY projects – being frustrated at times during the process and finding joy when they’re finally successful. 

What made consumers angry?

Consumers often mentioned home DIY, repairs, and maintenance in those discussions, with people looking for advice on how to fix, install, or replace something – and how to do it safely.

Tools and techniques were part of many discussions as well, with consumers looking for guidance on taking care of and preserving various aspects of their homes, to prevent damage and ensure longevity.

What made consumers happy?

• Home improvement tips – especially the good ones – generated joy in discussions. Many DIYers were grateful to receive advice on how to tackle various DIY projects. And some redditors kept their recommendations realistic, suggesting that “sometimes the best DIY advice is to not DIY it.” This comment stood out for the number of upvotes generated, suggesting that many consumers related to that message.
• People with the intimate knowledge of a topic, offering specific advice about issues that may arise in the future (during or after a DIY project has been completed), also gathered emotions of joy from the r/DIY community. 
• Lastly, comments expressing appreciation and gratitude for the given advice, as expected, generated joyful mentions.

What other emotions were on display?

• In fearful discussions, consumers shared concerns relating to plumbing, electrical issues, and safety. Several redditors dealt with issues related to plumbing and electrical systems, such as handling warning labels about explosion risks and using power tools. 
• Bad advice or wrong product suggestions posted in the subreddit generated sad mentions, with some redditors criticizing the advice-givers’ suggestions, calling them unprofessional.

We also looked at brand-specific mentions, and breaking them down by sentiment, we found that unhelpful in-store employees, often giving wrong advice, were one of the main sources of negativity among consumers.

Lessons for marketers

• Engage and support consumers in “why” and “how-to” discussions. r/DIY is a gold mine for all home-improvement focused brands. Why and how-to questions present brands and marketers with an opportunity to not only join the conversation on Reddit but support consumers in figuring out their questions. It’s great inspiration for SEO content.
• Effective customer service is essential for shaping brand perception. And if a customer perceives your employees as not a good source for advice and information, they’ll be sure to recommend a different brand. Understanding brand perceptions and triggers can help guide decision-making across the organization. And maybe your brand can become the next go-to source for tackling all things DIY.

r/Giftideas

r/GiftIdeas is the smallest subreddit on our list, with 375k subscribers. 

This community encourages people to not only share gift ideas but also follow up on how those gifts were given or received. 

r/GiftIdeas: Navigating the giftiverse

What makes a good gift idea?

We looked into sentiment-categorized mentions in r/GiftIdeas to understand the context behind positive and negative mentions in advice-related conversations in r/GiftIdeas. 

Here’s what we found.

• Overall, consumers positively discussed gifts that are special, practical, emotional, sentimental, meaningful, fun, or unique.
• Gift ideas for loved ones and for various occasions – think birthdays, anniversaries, or Christmas – also generated positive mentions.
• The r/GiftIdeas members also shared a desire for unique or personalized gifts, like those related to the specific interests of gift recipients (eg, whiskey, golf, soccer, anime, historical fiction).

• In negative discussions, people discussed the difficulty of finding the right gift (due to a lack of information or conflicting reviews).
• The gift-givers also often mentioned budget constraints or not knowing the gift recipients' likes and dislikes.

How do different gift categories stack up against each other?

We analyzed five popular product categories in advice-driven conversations in r/GiftIdeas:

• Games
• Clothes
• Jewelry and accessories
• Books
• Gift cards

Here’s what we found:

• When looking at the total conversation across all five categories, games and books were the two most popular categories, together accounting for 60% of all mentions.
• Jewelry and accessories gathered 13% of the total conversation. 
• Clothes accounted for 17% of the total conversation across all five categories. This category also saw higher volumes of negative mentions compared to the other categories, with some consumers saying that it’s difficult to find clothes without knowing the person’s size and interests.

Overall, gift ideas related to activities, like visiting a shooting range, skiing, or backpacking, generated joy in advice-driven conversations in r/GiftIdeas. 

Thoughtful gift ideas based on unique interests, such as spiritual advice books and restful activities like going to the spa, were also received joyfully by redditors. 

Lessons for marketers 

• Gift-givers care about your product’s story. Gifting happens year round, and as the research shows, the gift-buying process can be full of frustration and uncertainty. Communities like r/GiftIdeas are designated spaces for figuring out how to buy things for other people. In these communities, people care deeply about the story behind the product and what the gift signifies. Although product details still matter, gift-givers are primarily focusing on the story and emotion behind your brand.
• Use r/GiftIdeas for content inspiration. There are many gift-gifting appropriate occasions to celebrate throughout the year. In addition to that, r/GiftIdeas is a wonderful source of inspiration for brands looking to get creative with their campaigns and products.